This edition is brought to you by Ignite Digital

Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan, widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time, transformed the sport with his unparalleled skills and competitive drive. Born in Brooklyn in 1963, Jordan's journey to NBA stardom began at the University of North Carolina. He led the Chicago Bulls to six championships in the 1990s, earning five MVP awards along the way. Jordan's impact extended beyond the court, revolutionizing sports marketing through his partnership with Nike. His "Air Jordan" brand became a cultural phenomenon. Even in retirement, Jordan's influence persists. He now owns the Charlotte Hornets and continues to shape basketball's future. "I've failed over and over and over again in my life," Jordan once said. "And that is why I succeed."

Key Lessons from Michael Jordan:

• On extreme dedication: "I would rather miss a game than miss practice."

• On failure: "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

• On perseverance: "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

Read More.

Company: Gensler

Gensler was founded in 1965 by Art and Drue Gensler, along with their associate James Follett, in San Francisco. Starting as a small interior design firm, it quickly gained recognition for its innovative approach to workplace design. The company's early success came from projects for major corporations like Bank of America and Apple. By the 1980s, Gensler had expanded internationally and diversified into architecture and planning. The firm's growth accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s, with high-profile projects like the Shanghai Tower and Facebook headquarters. Today, Gensler is the world's largest architecture firm, with 52 offices worldwide and over 6,000 employees. In 2022, the company reported revenue of $1.5 billion.

Key Lessons from Gensler:

• On client relationships: Treat every project as a potential long-term partnership. Gensler's early work for Bank of America led to decades of collaboration and referrals.

• On talent: Hire for cultural fit, not just skills. Art Gensler once said, "We hire nice people and teach them to be good designers."

Read More.

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Accelerants

High-performance tool

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Reverse Engineer

Reverse Engineering is the process of analyzing a finished product to figure out how it was made. It's used across many fields, from software to manufacturing. "Reverse engineering is taking apart an object to see how it works in order to duplicate or enhance the object," explains Eric J. Swedin.

This approach is valuable because it allows us to learn from existing designs. In software, it helps developers understand and improve legacy code. In manufacturing, it's used to analyze competitors' products. Reverse engineering is also crucial for cybersecurity, helping experts find vulnerabilities.

Think about a time you've taken something apart to see how it works. That's reverse engineering in action. How might you apply this concept to understand and improve processes in your own work?

Insights

Tactical reads

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> When analyzing workplace learning and training
A Meta-Analysis of Self-Regulated Learning in Work-Related Training and Educational Attainment: What We Know and Where We Need to Go (Read it here)

> When exploring aspects of personality integration
Coherence and congruence: two aspects of personality integration (Read it here)

1 question

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

Use SEO to reach red-hot buyers before the competition with Ignite Digital

There are 8.5 billion searches per day on Google. Are you showing up? If not then you’re losing sales. Ignite Digital are the SEO experts with over 15 years of experience. They’ll design a custom strategy to help you drive website traffic and online sales.

Wanna give them a test drive? Request a FREE competitive analysis and Ignite Digital will respond on the same day with a sneak peek of your competitor’s strategy & how you can beat them.

Get your FREE Competitive Analysis Today

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Alex Brogan

Find me on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

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Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

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